Transcript pps

Unit Seven Environmental
Concerns
By Xu Cuihua
Oct. 20, 2008
Objective of learning
• In this unit, you will
• 1. be aware of environmental problems in
Section One
• 2. increase your awareness of environmental
problems and practice listening and speaking
skills in Section Two
• 3. learn solutions to environmental problems in
Section Three
• 4. Learning English:100 Ways you can do to
Save The Environment
Section One
• Global concerns of environmental
problems
• Listening in
• Speaking out
Global concerns
• What’s wrong with
him?
• What does he suffer
from?
General concerns
• Greenhouse gas
emissions?
• Global warming?
• Energy consumption?
• Water pollution?
• Air pollution?
• Desertification?
• Sandstorms?
• …?
Discussion
• Work with your partner and make a list of
the most serious environmental problems
now affecting the world, i.e. the
environmental problems our planet now is
facing.
• The following are some of the examples
that presents the seriousness of the
problems.
Acid Rain
Air Pollution
Global Warming
Hazardous Waste
Ozone Depletion
Deforestation
Desertification
Listening in (Dialogues)
• Dialogue 1—Call for an International
Response
• Directions:
• Listen to Dialogue 1 and complete the
following table about the two
environmental problems mentioned
• P.100
Dialogue 2
• Dialogue 2—Call for Response from
Everybody
• P.100
• Directions: Listen to Dialogue 2 and
answer the following questions.
Dialogue 2
• 1. Since there is “lots of clean,
modern technology” to solve the
problem of air pollution, why are
countries reluctant to use it?
•
Because companies in developed
countries say they’re expensive and
developing countries put more
emphasis on economic development
than on environment protection.
• 2. Why should we protect rainforests?
• Because the forests are an important
natural habitat for thousands of species of
animal and plant life.
• 3. Why should we prevent farmland from
desertification?
• Because desertification means that people
cannot grow enough food and that people
sometimes fight over the farmland that
remains, i.e. damaging the environment
actually leads to conflict between people.
Speaking out
•
•
•
•
A. Telling a story
B. Role-play
C. Doing a survey
[referring to page101-104]
Section Two Pay the Price
•
•
•
Listening in (News Report 1—Bald
Eagles Return )
Study the words on page 105 and fill in
the following blanks with these words
before listening.
Do not look at the words while you do the exercise.
1. An _________ is a piece of equipment used to
keep eggs or bacteria at the correct
temperature for them to develop.
2. A __________is a doll that you can move,
either by pulling strings which are attached to it
or by putting your hand inside its body and
moving your fingers.
3. An _______ is a large bird that lives by eating
small animals. An ________ is a young bird of
this type.
4. Something that is _______ is easily
broken or damaged.
5. A _________ experience is extremely
upsetting or disturbing. We had a
_______ time after the 5.12 Sichuan
Earthquake..
6. If something is _______, it has a
covering that feels soft and like fur.
7.
If you _______ a fruit, flower, or leaf, you take it
between your fingers and pull it in order to remove it
from its stalk where it is growing. If you
________something from somewhere, you take it
between your fingers and pull it sharply from where it is.
8. If something ________ from somewhere or if you
__________ it somewhere, it hangs or swings loosely.
9. If resources such as money are __________ for a
particular purpose, they are reserved for that purpose.
E.g. 30 million dollars has just been earmarked for the
wildlife conservation project.
1. An incubator is a piece of equipment used to
keep eggs or bacteria at the correct
temperature for them to develop.
2. A puppet is a doll that you can move, either by
pulling strings which are attached to it or by
putting your hand inside its body and moving
your fingers.
3. An eagle is a large bird that lives by eating
small animals. An eaglet is a young bird of this
type.
4. Something that is fragile is easily
broken or damaged.
5. A harrowing experience is extremely
upsetting or disturbing. We had a
harrowing time after the 5.12 Sichuan
Earthquake..
6. If something is fuzzy, it has a covering
that feels soft and like fur.
7.
If you pluck a fruit, flower, or leaf, you take it between
your fingers and pull it in order to remove it from its
stalk where it is growing. If you pluck something from
somewhere, you take it between your fingers and pull it
sharply from where it is.
8. If something dangles from somewhere or if you
dangle it somewhere, it hangs or swings loosely.
9. If resources such as money are earmarked for a
particular purpose, they are reserved for that purpose.
E.g. 30 million dollars has just been earmarked for the
wildlife conservation project.
Key to the listening p.106
• A. vanished, dedicated, pesticide,
environment
• B. thin, chain, puppet, nest, dumped, court
• C.
• 1. There may not be enough money for
them to finish the project.
• 2. Until that time, these eagles will have to
rely on Peter and his team to help hatch
the eggs.
Speaking out
• Directions: Form groups of four and survey
at least 8 of your classmates using the
following questions. Summarize the results
with your group members and choose one
representative to report the result to the
class in a 3 minute speech.
• Do you know any examples of upset ecology?
• Who should be blamed?
• What has been done to improve the
environment?
Section Three Taking Action
• Listening in (News Report 2—An
Environmental Major)
• Useful words to learn:
• Cutting-edge
• Trade-off
cutting edge
• A cutting edge is literally the edge of a tool’s
blade, the edge of a knife, for example.
• If you are at the cutting edge of a particular
field of activity, you are involved in its most
important or most exciting developments.
• If someone or something gives you a cutting
edge, they give you an advantage over your
competitors If Pearce had been fit, we would
have won. We missed the cutting edge he would
have given us. [Being fit is a cutting edge优势].
• Cutting-edge techniques or equipment are the
most advanced that there are in a particular field.
trade off
• If you trade off one thing against another, you
exchange all or part of one thing for another, as
part of a negotiation or compromise.
•
They cynically tried to trade off a
reduction in the slaughter of dolphins against a
resumption of commercial whaling...
•
There is a possibility of being able to
trade off information for a reduced sentence.
trade-off
• A trade-off is a situation where you make
a compromise between two things, or
where you exchange all or part of one
thing for another. (JOURNALISM)
•
...the trade-off between inflation
and unemployment.
A. Listen for the main idea
• Directions: Listen to the news report and
judge which sentence tells the main idea of
the news.
• a. An increasing number of students go to
college.
• b. All things about the environment are hot topics.
• c. Colleges offer a new environment studies
major.
• d. Colleges students majoring in Sustainability
enjoy their studies.
B. Listen for details
• Directions: Fill in the blanks by using the
exact wording in the news.
• (1) What may a Sustainability major learn in his
environmental studies?
• The college offers an environmental studies
major, taking students from caring for seals
damaged by boats to the potential dangers of
climate change.
• The new major called Sustainability brings
together everything from architecture, to
engineering, to urban planning, in an effort to
find solutions to environmental issues.
• (2)What is the purpose of the new major?
• According to a student, it’s for protecting our
environment. According to the president of
Arizona State University, it’s for the health and
wellbeing of the planet.
• (3) What are the students’ attitudes towards their
major?
• They both have idealism to make a difference,
but they also realize that there are trade-offs.
C. Listen for the inferred
meanings.
• Directions: Discuss in pairs and try to
answer the questions below.
• (1) Why is the Phoenix area a natural laboratory?
• Because the Phoenix area has a growing
population, a limited water supply and an
abundant amount of sunlight, and these natural
environmental conditions are ideal for testing
cutting-edge technology that are used to protect
or improve the environment.
• (2) Why is the sun both friend and foe to the
local people?
• The sun is a friend because it is necessary for
living things to grow. It is an enemy because too
much sun can be life-threatening. In the news, it
is saying that the building materials used are
trapping the sun’s heat, so that at night, the city
doesn’t have an opportunity to cool down,
changing the natural environment.
• (3) Why do “these students see no trade-offs in
opportunity”?
• A trade-off is to sacrifice something for the benefits of
something else. In this context, the trade-off is to give up
all the modern conveniences that is causing damage to
the environment. These students don’t feel that in order
to protect and save the environment they have to give
them up. Instead, they are researching to develop other
strategies that will enable people to have the
conveniences that are also environmentally friendly, that
is, the students don’t have to give up anything in seizing
this opportunity to study Sustainability because the major
secures their own future at the beginning stage of the
movement.
Speaking out
• Directions: Make up a short conversation based on
the following roles and the background information
on page 111.
• Role A: You are a middle-aged housewife. You always
use free shopping bags. You think they make your life
more convenient. Besides, you often reuse them as
trash bags at home, and you think these bags help you
save money. You never feel guilty when you take one
from a store. This time, you asked for free shopping
bags at the check-out counter of IKEA, but were turned
down. So you are angry and quarrel with the cashier
(Role B).
• Role B: You are a cashier at IKEA. You refuse to offer
free plastic bags to the shopper (Role A) and try to
explain.
Solutions to environmental
problems
• 温家宝谈环境问题
• 温家宝：环保工作要实现三个转变 做好四
方面工作
2006年04月18日
• Learning English:100 ways you can do to
save our environment
三个转变
• 温家宝强调，做好新形势下的环保工作，要加快
实现三个转变：一是从重经济增长轻环境保护转
变为保护环境与经济增长并重，在保护环境中求
发展。二是从环境保护滞后于经济发展转变为环
境保护和经济发展同步，努力做到不欠新帐，多
还旧帐，改变先污染后治理、边治理边破坏的状
况。三是从主要用行政办法保护环境转变为综合
运用法律、经济、技术和必要的行政办法解决环
境问题，自觉遵循经济规律和自然规律，提高环
境保护工作水平。
Three Changes
• China’s central government is greatly concerned by
these problems. Premier Wen Jiabao has stressed the
importance of the “Three Changes”. Firstly, to move from
a mode of growth that stresses the economy to one
which balances the economy and the environment.
Secondly, to move from a situation in which
environmental protection holds the economy back, to
one where they develop in tandem; from a passive and
remedial model of environmental protection to a
proactive, protective method. Thirdly, to move from the
use of policy and administrative methods to protect the
environment to the combined use of legal, economic and
technical methods, alongside political intervention when
necessary, to adapt to new circumstances and
accelerate innovation. P.115
四个方面
• 温家宝指出，当前和今后一个时期，需要着力做
好四个方面工作。第一，加大污染治理力度，切
实解决突出的环境问题。重点是加强水污染、大
气污染、土壤污染防治。第二，加强自然生态保
护，努力扭转生态恶化趋势。一方面，控制不合
理的资源开发活动；另一方面，坚持不懈地开展
生态工程建设。第三，加快经济结构调整，从源
头上减少对环境的破坏。大力推动产业结构优化
升级，形成一个有利于资源节约和环境保护的产
业体系。第四，加快发展环境科技和环保产业，
提高环境保护的能力。
Learning English:100 Ways to Save
The Environment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
In Your Home – Conserve Energy 28
In Your Home – Reduce Toxicity 9
In Your Yard 11
In Your Office 9
Ways To Protect Our Air 15
Ways to Use Less Water 8
Ways to Protect Our Water 6
Create Less Trash 14
In Your Home – Conserve Energy
1. Clean or replace air filters on your air conditioning unit at least once
a month.
2. If you have central air conditioning, do not close vents（通风孔） in
unused rooms.
3. Lower the thermostat（温度调节装置） on your water heater to 120.
4. Wrap（包裹，包装） your water heater in an insulated（绝缘的）
blanket.
5. Turn down or shut off your water heater when you will be away for
extended periods.
6. Turn off unneeded lights even when leaving a room for a short time.
7. Set your refrigerator（冰箱） temperature（温度） at 36 to 38 and
your freezer at 0 to 5 .
In Your Home – Conserve Energy
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
When using an oven（烤箱，灶）, minimize door
opening while it is in use; it reduces oven temperature
by 25 to 30 every time you open the door.
Clean the lint filter in your dryer after every load so that
it uses less energy.
Unplug（拔掉） seldom used appliances.
Use a microwave when- ever you can instead of a
conventional oven or stove.
Wash clothes with warm or cold water instead of hot.
Reverse your indoor ceiling fans for summer and
winter operations as recommended.
Turn off lights, computers and other appliances when
not in use.
In Your Home – Conserve Energy
15. Purchase appliances and office equipment with the
Energy Star Label; old refridgerators, for example, use
up to 50 more electricity than newer models.
16. Only use electric appliances when you need them.
17. Use compact fluorescent（荧光灯） light bulbs（圆形
灯泡） to save money and energy.
18. Keep your thermostat at 68 in winter and 78 in summer.
19. Keep your thermostat higher in summer and lower in
winter when you are away
20. Insulate your home as best as you can.
21. Install weather stripping around all doors and windows.
In Your Home – Conserve Energy
22. Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you
leave work.
23. Plant trees to shade your home.
24. Shade outside air conditioning units by trees or other
means.
25. Replace old windows with energy efficient ones.
26. Use cold water instead of warm or hot water when
possible.
27. Connect your outdoor lights to a timer.
28. Buy green electricity - electricity produced by low - or
even zero-pollution facilities (NC Greenpower for North
Carolina - www.ncgreenpower.org). In your homereduce toxicity.
In Your Home – Reduce Toxicity
1. Eliminate mercury（汞，水银） from your home by
purchasing items without mercury, and dispose of items
containing mercury at an appropriate drop-off facility
when necessary (e.g. old thermometers).
2. Learn about alternatives to household cleaning items
that do not use hazardous（危险的） chemicals（化学
品）.
3. Buy the right amount of paint for the job.
4. Review labels of household cleaners you use. Consider
alternatives like baking soda, scouring pads, water or a
little more elbow grease.
In Your Home – Reduce Toxicity
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
When no good alternatives exist to a toxic（有毒的）
item, find the least amount required for an effective,
sanitary（清洁的，卫生的） result.
If you have an older home, have paint in your home
tested for lead. If you have lead-based（含铅的）
paint, cover it with wall paper or other material instead
of sanding（打磨，磨砂） it or burning it off.
Use traps（陷阱，诱捕器） instead of rat and mouse
poisons and insect killers.
Have your home tested for radon（氡，惰性气体）.
Use cedar（雪松） chips or aromatic（芬芳的） herbs
（药草，香草） instead of mothballs（樟脑球）.
In Your Yard
1. Avoid using leaf blowers and other dust-producing
equipment.
2. Use an electric lawn- mower（割草机） instead of a gaspowered one.
3. Leave grass clippings on the yard-they decompose（分
解） and return nutrients（营养） to the soil.
4. Use recycled wood chips as mulch to keep weeds down,
retain（保持） moisture（湿润 and prevent erosion.（腐
蚀）
5. Use only the required amount of fertilizer.
6. Minimize pesticide（杀虫剂） use.
In Your Yard
7.
Create a wildlife habitat（动植物的生活环境，栖息地，
产地） in your yard.
8. Water grass early in the morning.
9. Rent or borrow items like ladders（梯子）, chain saws
（锯）, party decorations（装饰品） and others that
are seldom used.
10. Take actions that use non hazardous components (e.g.,
to ward（保卫，阻止，避免） off pests（害虫，有害
物）, plant marigolds（万寿菊） in a garden instead of
using pesticide).
11. Put leaves in a compost（堆肥） heap instead of
burning them or throwing them away. Yard debris too
large for your compost bin should be taken to a yarddebris recycler.
In Your Office
1. Copy and print on both sides of paper.
2. Reuse items like envelopes（信封）, folders
（文件夹） and paper clips（曲别针）.
3. Use mailer sheets for interoffice mail instead of
an envelope.Use mailer sheets for interoffice
mail instead of an envelope.
4. Set up a bulletin board for memos instead of
sending a copy to each employee.
In Your Office
5. Use e-mail instead of paper correspondence
（通信，信件）.
6. Use recycled paper.
7. Use discarded paper for scrap paper.
8. Encourage your school and/or company to
print documents with soy-based inks, which
are less toxic.
9. Use a ceramic（陶器制品） coffee mug（杯子）
instead of a disposable（可任意使用的） cup.
Ways To Protect Our Air
1. Ask your employer to consider flexible work schedules or
telecommuting.
2. Recycle printer cartridges.
3. Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you
leave work.
4. Report smoking vehicles to your local air agency.
5. Don't use your wood stove or fireplace when air quality is
poor.
6. Avoid slow-burning, smoldering fires. They produce the
largest amount of pollution.
7. Burn seasoned wood - it burns cleaner than green wood.
8. Use solar power for home and water heating.
Ways To Protect Our Air
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Use low-VOC or water-based paints, stains, finishes and paint
strippers.
Purchase radial tires and keep them properly inflated for your
vehicle.
Paint with brushes or rollers instead of using spray（喷雾，飞沫）
paints to minimize harmful emissions（散发，喷射）.
Ignite（点燃） charcoal（木炭） barbecues（吃烧烤肉的野餐）
with an electric probe or other alternative to lighter fluid.
If you use a wood stove, use one sold after 1990. They are
required to meet federal emissions standards and are more
efficient and cleaner burning.
Walk or ride your bike instead of driving, whenever possible.
Join a carpool（合伙使用汽车） or vanpool（上下班交通车合用小
组） to get to work.
Ways to Use Less Water
1. Check and fix any water leaks（泄漏，漏洞）.
2. Install water-saving devices on your faucets（水龙头，塞子） and
toilets（卫生间）.
3. Don't wash dishes with the water running continuously.
4. Wash and dry only full loads of laundry and dishes.
5. Follow your community's water use restrictions or guidelines.
6. Install a low-flow shower head.
7. Replace old toilets with new ones that use a lot less water.
8. Turn off washing machine's water supply to prevent leaks.
Ways to Protect Our Water
1. Revegetate（再植） or mulch（覆盖树根） disturbed
（被扰乱的） soil as soon as possible.
2. Never dump（倾倒（垃圾）） anything down a storm
drain（排水沟）.
3. Have your septic（腐败的，败血的） tank（容器）
pumped and system inspected regularly.
4. Check your car for oil or other leaks, and recycle motor
oil.
5. Take your car to a car wash instead of washing it in the
driveway.
6. Learn about your watershed.
Create Less Trash
1. Buy items in bulk from loose bins when possible to
reduce the packaging wasted.
2. Avoid products with several layers of packaging when
only one is sufficient. About 33 of what we throw away is
packaging.
3. Buy products that you can reuse.
4. Maintain and repair durable（持久的，耐用的）
products instead of buying new ones.
5. Check reports for products that are easily repaired and
have low breakdown（崩溃，衰弱） rates.
6. Reuse items like bags and containers when possible.
7. Use cloth napkins（餐巾，餐巾纸） instead of paper
ones.
Create Less Trash
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Use reusable plates and utensils（器具） instead of
disposable ones.
Use reusable containers to store food instead of
aluminum（铝） foil（箔） and cling（薄膜） wrap.
Shop with a canvas（帆布） bag instead of using
paper and plastic bags.
Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently.
Reuse packaging cartons and shipping materials. Old
newspapers make great packaging material.
Compost your vegetable scraps（零碎，碎片，余料）.
Buy used furniture - there is a surplus of it, and it is
much cheaper than new furniture.
• Origainally From:
http://www.seql.org/100ways.cfm?
the Ideal
• “We believe all citizens have an inherent right to
the enjoyment of pure and uncontaminated air
and water and soil; that this right should be
regarded as belonging to the whole community;
and that no one should be allowed to trespass
upon it by his carelessness or his avarice or
even his ignorance.”
• resolution adopted in 1869 by the
Massachusetts Board of Health